Beita ( ar, بيتا, translation: "Home") is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

town in the

Nablus Governorate The Nablus Governorate ( ar, محافظة نابلس ') is an administrative district of State of Palestine, Palestine located in the Central Highlands of the West Bank, 53 km north of Jerusalem. It covers the area around the city of Nablus ...

in the northern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

located southeast of

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ar, الجهاز المركزي للإحصاء الفلسطيني) is the official statistical institution of the State of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures a ...

, the town had a population of 9,709 in 2007.2007 PCBS Census

. p.110. It consists of five clans which branch out to thirty families. There are many houses dating back to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

era. Beita Municipality: Beita Town
/ref> The current mayor, elected in 2004 is Arab ash-Shurafa. The town contains four

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s and three clinics. Since 1967, under the

Israeli occupation of the West Bank The Israeli occupation of the West Bank began on 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured and occupied the territory (including East Jerusalem), then occupied by Jordan, during the Six-Day War, and continues to the present day. The status o ...

, more than 77 Beita villagers have been shot dead by Israeli forces, many during protests, 7 were killed between May and September 2021 during the suppression of demonstrations against the establishment of an

Israeli outpost In Israeli law, an outpost ( he, מאחז, ''Ma'ahaz'' lit. "a handhold") is an unauthorized or illegal Israeli settlement within the West Bank, constructed without the required authorization from the Israeli government in contravention of Israel ...

on Beita lands.

Location

Beita (including Za'tara locality) is located – south of

. It is bordered by

Osarin Osarin ( ar, أُوصرين) is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 16 kilometers southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had ...

and Aqraba to the east,

Awarta Awarta ( ar, عورتا) is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007.

and

Odala Odala ( ar, اودلة) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 1,082 inhabitants in mid-year 200 ...

to the north,

Huwwara Huwara ( ar, حُوّارة, ''ḥuwwarah'', ) is a Palestinian town located in the Nablus Governorate of the northern West Bank, south of Nablus, on the main road connecting Nablus southwards to Ramallah and Jerusalem. It is approximately ...

and

Yasuf Yasuf ( ar, ياسوف) is a Palestinian village located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, northeast of Salfit, southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to ...

to the west, and

Yatma Yatma ( ar, يتما) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 15 kilometers south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,981 inhabitants i ...

and

Qabalan Qabalan ( ar, قبلان) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 7,130 inhabitants in 20 ...

to the south.

History

There are two historical centres in Beita; Beita el-Fauqa ("The upper Beita") to the North-East and Beita et-Tahta ("The lower Beita") to the South-West.Finkelstein and Lederman, 1997, pp. 703-4 In Beita el-Fauqa, pottery

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s from the

Iron Age II The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

era have been found, while at Beita et-Tatha sherds from the Iron Age II, Persian,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, and Mamluk era have been found.

Ottoman era

Beita was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1517 with all of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, and both in Beita el-Fauqa and Beita et-Tatha sherds from the early Ottoman era have been found. In 1596 Beita appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''

Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' of Jabal Qubal of the '' Liwa'' of

. It had a population of 50 households, all

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives, and a press for olives or grapes; a total of 8,000

Akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...

.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 134 In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Beita as a "large village", located in the ''El-Beitawy'' district, east of Nablus. In 1882, the PEF's ''

Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...

'' described it as "A large village, with a kind of suburb to the south, near which are ancient

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

s. It is supplied by

wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

, and surrounded by olives. It stands upon the hills east of the ''Mukhnah'' plain, and is the capital of the district named from it."

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Beita had a population of 883, all

s,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p
25
/ref> increasing at the time of the 1931 census to 1,194, still all Muslim, in 286 houses.Mills, 1932, p
60
/ref> In the 1945 statistics Beita had a population of 1,580 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
18
/ref> with 17,542

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 5,666 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,916 used for cereals, while 76 dunams were built-up land.

Jordanian era

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, and after the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,annexed Jordanian rule. At the beginning of 1930s Shaikh Rezeq Abdelrazeq Elyan Open the first school in Beita Al-Tahta and it was names (Beita National School) and the student from beita and around used to come and get education in it. In 1952, Beita opened an elementary school, which served the town and surrounding villages. In 1954, an elementary school for girls only was established and since then, four other schools have been built - including two secondary schools. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 693 inhabitants in ''Beita Tahta'' ("the lower Beita"), while ''Beita Fauqa'' ("the higher Beita") had 1,498 inhabitants; a total of 2,191 inhabitants.

Post-1967

Since the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

in 1967, Beita has been under

Israeli occupation Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...

. After the 1995 accords, 89% of the village land was classified as

Area B The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of Israeli–Palestinian peace process, U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are Israel and aparthe ...

, and the remaining 11% as Area C. Beita municipality december 2022

Although the town was considered a

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

stronghold,Lockman and Beinin, 1989, pp.
81
/ref> Arab ash-Shurafa, a member of

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

, was elected mayor in 2005. Shurafa was arrested by the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

, along with

mayor

Adly Yaish Adly Yaish ( ar, عدلي يعيش, ) is the mayor of the Nablus Municipality (Dec. 2005–present) in the central highlands of the West Bank under the Palestinian National Authority. He is a known businessman working in automobiles trade On 24 ...

and

Education Minister of the Palestinian National Authority The Ministry of Education and Higher Education of the Palestinian National Authority is the branch of the Palestinian government in charge of managing the education in the Palestinian territories. It was established in 1994 after the formation of th ...

Nasser al-Shaer Nasser al-Din al-Shaer ( ar, ناصر الدين الشاعر) (born 1961) is the former Education Minister of the Palestinian National Authority serving as a member of Hamas. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister in the previous cabinet. After th ...

in 2006 for their membership in Hamas.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In January 1988, 20 men from Beita and

Huwara Huwara ( ar, حُوّارة, ''ḥuwwarah'', ) is a Palestinian town located in the Nablus Governorate of the northern West Bank, south of Nablus, on the main road connecting Nablus southwards to Ramallah and Jerusalem. It is approximately fr ...

, identified by a GSS report after clashes with Israeli troops to have been involved in stone throwing, were assembled, bound, without their resisting, with plastic handcuffs and had their bones broken by soldiers, and then were abandoned at night in a muddy field. The

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

made a formal complaint, after local press reports had been ignored.

Frankel Frankel is the surname of: * Benjamin Frankel (1906–1973), British composer * Bethenny Frankel (born 1970), American chef and reality television personality * Charles Frankel (1917–1975), American philosopher, known for Charles Frankel Prize * ...

, 1996, pp
82
83 The army did not prosecute the matter initially. Lieutenant-colonel Yehuda Meir was reprimanded, and forced into retirement, with his officer's rank and pension rights intact. He was prosecuted only after the

Association for Civil Rights in Israel The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) (Hebrew: ; Arabic: ) was created in 1972 as an independent, non-partisan not-for-profit organization with the mission of protecting human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories unde ...

made an issue of the matter by appealing to the Supreme Court which ruled that he had to stand trial, which then took place in April 1991. Meir was the local Nablus district commander overseeing the operation, and testified that he had acted under orders directly coming from

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

and that when he had objected to bone-smashing, Rabin had replied: "You do the work, I'll take care of the media." His superiors testified that orders were only to use force in pursuit and arrests. The court believed the latter and found that the orders were legal, but that Meir had deviated from instructions.Conroy, 2000, pp
138
156
191
224.

Burning Star of David Incident

On August 14, 2021, near the abandoned Israeli outpost of Evyatar, residents of Beita erected a wooden star of David in the center of which was a swastika, then set the structure alight.

Beita Incident

On April 6, 1988, 16-20 teenage hikers from

Elon Moreh Elon Moreh ( he, אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה) is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located northeast of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus, on the slopes of the Mount Kabir ridge, it falls u ...

, an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

north of Beita, set out for a trek. Nature-hiking among settlers was a symbolic means of demonstrating their control of the land.Frankel, 1996, pp. 94-96 They were accompanied by two guards, both with a reputation for being aggressive Zionists:Joseph C. Harsch
'Fundamentalism and the West Bank's Beita affair,'
''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' Roman Aldubi, a 26-year-old known extremist and religious militant banned by the IDF from entering Nablus for 6 months, after he had been convicted of obstruction of justice for hiding a gun used by another settler to kill an 11 year old Palestinian child, 'Aysha Bahash, in her father's bakery, during a stone-throwing incident;Lockman and Beinin, 1989, p
84
/ref> and Menahem Ilan (55), the organizer, who according to

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

also had a criminal record,Noam Chomsky
'Scenes from the Uprising,'

Z Magazine Z Communications is a left-wing activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent.Max Elbaum''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che'' London, England, UK; New York, New York, US: Verso, ...

July, 1988 were crossing village land in a show of strength, "to show them that we are the masters of the country", as one of the hikers later told ABC correspondent Barrie Dunsmore. When the settler group sat down to make breakfast near a spring, or a local well, local farmers sowing their spring crops became alarmed at the presence under armed guard, and one of them went to the village, a kilometre away, and the villagers were notified over the mosque's loudspeaker. The village lands were under military closure at the time, and, according to their accounts, they feared, based on other precedents in the area, that the local well might be poisoned. On such walks permission was never asked of villagers, furthermore, to trek through their fields, and Menachem Ilan had not alerted the IDF of his hiking plans in a remote Arab area. Several dozen farmers, among them some teenagers, gathered in proximity of the hikers. What took place was contested at that time. At first, according to one version Aldubi fired warning shots from his

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

at the farmers, some of whom threw stones. One of these shots is said, in one account, to have killed Mousa Saleh Bani Shamseh.Joel Brinkley
'Beita Journal; Where the Hot Rage of April Is Now Cold Fury,'
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 23 August 1988.:' Apparently he had an expansive view of what constituted a warning, because one shot killed a farmer working in a nearby field.' In the IDF investigation, it was determined that Abdubi shot Mussa Saleh in the back at a distance of about 10 yards while the latter was fleeing.Stephen Frankli
'Israeli Army Admits Escort Shot Teenager,'

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

28 April 1988. In another version, Ilan reprimanded him, and led the hikers away down a riverbed, where one girl was hit in the thigh by a stone and then Aldubi opened fire with Ilan's M-16 shooting Mousa Saleh in the head, killing him and wounding another farmer.Conroy, 2000, p
217
/ref> Aldubi later said the man had tried to grab his rifle, a claim the IDF investigation later stated was unsubstantiated by any evidence. In one version, the hikers continued on and walked into the village, despite the incident. In the other, the villagers surrounded them, and led them to Beita. When the Israelis entered Beita they were met by a crowd of villagers who had learned of the killing. The villagers were frightened by the sight of guns: the teenagers, in their account, were equally apprehensive on seeing furious villagers reportedly brandishing knives, pickaxes and clubs. The army investigation found that the villagers had no firearms. As the Israelis moved in a tight group through the village, the car carrying Mousa Saleh's corpse arrived, and stones were thrown. At one point, while her husband Taysir was burying his brother-in-law, Munira Daoud, who was also the deceased's sister, hit Aldubi in the head with a rock. Several villagers pushed through the crowd to save the teenagers. According to one report, Aldubi while falling sprayed his Uzi machine gun and killed Hatem Fayez Ahmad Al-Jaber and severely wounded several other villagers. The IDF investigation found that instead Aldubi squeezed off several shots as he turned around after being hit by a rock, and then fired again when one of the villagers tried to wrest his rifle from him. As Aldubi fired, Tirza Porat, a 15-year-old member of his own group, was killed by a shot to the back of the head. He and Menachem were disarmed by the villagers, who smashed his gun. He received a serious head wound, and several others youths were hurt in the clash. One villager, Azzam Bani Shemseh, tried to revive Tirza by heart massage. The same family brought water to the teenagers, and another family gave refuge to three Israeli girls in their home. The villagers called for ambulances and guided the rest to the main road where they flagged down cars. Initially, Israel media reported that Tirza Porat had been killed in an incident by bloodthirsty Arabs throwing stones. The

Gush Emunim Gush Emunim ( he, גּוּשׁ אֱמוּנִים , ''Bloc of the Faithful'') was an Israeli ultranationalist Orthodox Jewish right-wing activist movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Gol ...

teenagers said Porat had been killed by a rooftop sniper. An official statement spoke of the group falling "into the hands of pogromists and murderers".

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

called for the village to be emptied and for more settlements to be built. Israeli prime minister

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

attended her funeral where cries of revenge were uttered and where Knesset member

Haim Druckman Haim Meir Drukman ( he, חיים דרוקמן), born 15 November 1932) is an Israeli Orthodox Rabbi and former politician. He serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, and head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot. Biography Drukman w ...

declared that "the village of Beita must be wiped off the face of the earth,"

Thomas L. Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tra ...

br>'In Separate Gestures, a Mosaic of Intentions,'
''The New York Times'' 17 April 1988 a remark that was met with "amens" from the crowd. The following day the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

revealed that she been shot in the head by an

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

carbine belonging to Aldubi. It was also revealed that "the young settlers, instructed by their elders, had rendered untruthful accounts." Despite knowing from the start who was responsible, the Israeli first bulldozed six homes and then, after the report indicated Porat had not been killed by Palestinians, destroyed another eight in Beita, "giving people ample time to leave".

states this was "a total lie", counting double the number of buildings destroyed including all their contents. On his own visit to Beita, 30 houses were either 'totally demolished or virtually destroyed.' They also killed a sixteen-year-old boy, Issam Abdul Halim Mohammad Said, and arrested all male adult residents, six of whom were deported on April 19.

Aftermath and Punishment

As soon as the Israeli army intervened, they shot dead a villager who they said was trying to run away.Robert Ruby
'Resentment Still Smoldering After '88 Clash In West Bank,'
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'', 7 April 1989. Within 48 hours of the incident, Major General

Amram Mitzna Amram Mitzna ( he, עמרם מצנע, born 20 February 1945) is an Israeli politician and former general in the IDF. He is a former mayor of Haifa (1993–2003) and Yeruham (2005–2010) and led the Labor Party from 2002 to 2003. In 2012 he joine ...

, who had cordoned off the village he said to protect the residents and who declared no reprisals would be taken, interrogated all males between 16 and 60, and made hundreds of the villagers stand handcuffed and blindfolded all night. They said later they had been kicked, beaten and menaced until satisfactory testimonies had been given. IDF bulldozers uprooted dozens of olive trees and an almond grove nearby, which actually belonged to another Palestinian village. The army withheld the autopsy results, showing the girl had been killed by Aldubi's M-16 until the funeral was over. He then ordered the demolition of 14 homes in Beita, one of which had sheltered one of the Israeli hikers, after the army had established that Tirza Porat had not been shot by a Palestinian. The demolitions were ordered while the owners of 13 of the homes had not been charged with any crime. Over 60 members of the village were arrested, and 6 were expelled to Lebanon. Hamad Ben Ishams, whose house had been demolished, was imprisoned for seven months despite repeated evidence by his Israeli employer that Hamad had been at work with him in Israel at the time. The military judge preferred the testimony of one of the hikers Rami Hoffman who identified him as an assailant. The official IDF investigation found that Ilan and Aldubi, the two escorts had 'escalat(ed) the crisis' by lack of caution and "hastiness in pulling the trigger," but the major cause for the incident was Palestinian aggressiveness and "readiness to harm Jewish hikers", and that they had a general plan to lure the hikers in their village. Aldubi was still hospitalized a year later, and confined to a wheelchair. According to Noam Chomsky, who visited the village, the military commander told ''

'' that Aldubi would not be incriminated because "the tragic incidents were already penalty enough."

''Language and Politics ,''
AK Press 2004 pp.679-680 The incident radicalized the village. One local some months later was reported as saying: In May 1989, a

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

military court handed down stiff sentences to five of the members of the village of Beita suspected of throwing stones at Jewish hikers. The person convicted of the most serious crime got an eight-year sentence, of which 3 were to be served. Two others sentenced to five-year terms were to serve 21 months, a fourth 18 months and the fifth two years. A further 11 Beitans were slated to stand trial later on the same charges. On 14 April 1991 an Elon Moreh settler, Pinhas Assayag (22), murdered a Beita resident, ''Jamil Dweikat'' (50). Arrested on 19 June 1991, he also confessed to killing a 22 year old shepherd, ''Radi a-Ouna'' from the nearby village of '

Azmut ’Azmut ( ar, عزموط) is a Palestinian people, Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located five kilometers northeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the village h ...

earlier in January of that year. After an investigation, he was committed to an Israeli mental hospital.

May–September 2021 series of protester killings

Beita's remaining lands were the object of a further attempt at illegal Israeli settlement early in 2020, when an attempt was made to seize an area called ''Jabal Orma''. That venture was eventually abandoned in the wake of local demonstrations, in which two protesting villagers were shot dead. In May, 2021, in the period of the 2021 demonstrations, Israeli settlers in caravans seized the top of Jabal Sabih on the village's outskirts, calling the new illegal outpost Evyatar, which is planted in the very centre of village lands and, in the view of Beita residents, was designed to split up and fragment Palestinian areas to its north, south, east and west. Over the following months, in response to repeated demonstrations against the establishment of Evyatar, Israeli forces shot dead, on different occasions, seven residents of Beita, and another Palestinian youth from nearby

. An estimated 1,000 have been injured. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has reportedly assisted the development of the site with paved roads, water lines, and electricity.Yumna Patel
'Beita is undefeatable': Inside the struggle to save this Palestinian village from Israeli settlers,,'

Mondoweiss ''Mondoweiss'' is a news website that began as a general-interest blog written by Philip Weiss on ''The New York Observer'' website. It subsequently developed into a broader collaborative venture after fellow journalist Adam Horowitz joined it ...

7 July 2021. In June, 2021, Israel destroyed $100,000 worth of vegetables in Beita by firing teargas at a vegetable storage unit. In the same month the new government of Naphtali Bennett reached an agreement with the settlers to evacuate in exchange for a promise to maintain the infrastructure and convert the outpost into a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

. The deal foresees the return of the settlers if Israel declares the area state land in the future. Beita and nearby villages have petitioned the

Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme C ...

to revoke the terms of the agreement.Hagar Sheza
'Palestinians Claiming Land at Illegal Outpost Take Israel's Deal With Settlers to Court,'

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

8 July 2021 File:Beita protest 1.jpg, Protest in Beita against Evyatar ooutpost. 3 Sept 2021 File:ירי גז מדמיע ביתא יולי.jpg, tear gas shut on protesters in Beita, July 2021 File:ילד פגוע מגז מדמיע ביתא 2 יולי 2021.jpg, Child hurt from tear gas during protest against Evyatar outpost, July 2021 File:Discharge of tear gas from a drone.jpg, Tear gas from drone on protesters, Beita September 2021 File:Road destruction Beita 2.jpg, A road destroyed by an Israeli army bulldozer to prevent protesters from approaching Evyatar outpost. Beita, January 2022 Those killed are *On 14 May, Dr. ''Issa Barham'', a legal scholar, expert in international law, who worked for the prosecutor's office in

Salfit Salfit ( ar, سلفيت) pronounced "Salfeet" is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, and the capital of the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine. Salfit is located at an altitude of , adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Ariel. A ...

, was shot dead after he responded to a call from the mosque for volunteers to help evacuate those wounded by Israeli army fire during a Friday demonstration. Ambulances couldn't cope, and he drove his Hyundai Tucson SUV to the scene. According to Palestinians present, as he was walking over to a group of wounded, an Israeli sniper knelt down, aimed and a single shot rang out. Barham died of a gunshot wound to the stomach.

Amira Hass Amira Hass ( he, עמירה הס; born 28 June 1956) is an Israeli journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper ''Haaretz'' covering Palestinian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, where she has lived for almost th ...

'Reality of a West Bank Outpost: Four Dead Palestinians and a Drone Spraying Tear Gas ,'

1 June 2021 * Zakaria Hamayel (26) a schoolteacher of Arabic, was shot dead while looking for a place to say his afternoon prayers in a break from a demonstration against the illegal settlement. A medic wearing the characteristic phosphorescent vest was shot in the thigh as he tried to assist Hamayel. *11 June. ''Mohammed Hamayel'' (16), high school student was shot in the centre of the chest at a distance of a few dozen metres by one of 4 soldiers spread out on the ground. His cousin was wounded *''Ahmad Bani Shamseh'' (17) was shot dead. The IDF account said he was killed for throwing an 'explosive device'. *On 27 July, ''Shadi Shurafi'', Beita's village plumber, was shot dead by a soldier from the Israeli

Kfir Brigade The 900th "Kfir" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת כְּפִיר, ''lit.'' "Lion Cub Brigade"), is the youngest and largest Infantry Corps (Israel), infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. It is subordinate to the 340th Division (Israel), 34 ...

as he stood, according to the Palestinian account, with a monkey wrench in his hand by the broken main of the village water supply. His body, according to

Gideon Levy Gideon Levy ( he, גדעון לוי; born 2 June 1953) is an Israeli journalist and author. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper ''Haaretz'' that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. ...

, was one of 300 Israel had yet to hand back to mourning families, apparently as exchange material for the return of the remains of two soldiers killed in battle inside the Gaza Strip. After some weeks, Israel returned it for burial. Israeli spokesmen stated that he was shot after ignoring warning shots as he charged the soldiers with a wrench in his hand.

, Alex Levac
'What the Israeli army does to soldiers who shoot Palestinians,'

19 November 2021 *On 6 August, ''Imad Duikat'' (38), a father of five, was shot dead with a .22 bullet to the chest while reportedly sipping water from a disposable cup near an ambulance at the protest site. On the same afternoon, 6 other Beita residents were hit by live fire and over a 100 were injured by tear gas and rubber-tipped metal bullets. The IDF said stones were thrown and tires burnt in what they termed a 'violent demonstration'.Jack Khoury,
'Palestinian Protester Killed by Israeli Fire Near Illegal West Bank Outpost,'

6 August 2021

, Alex Levac,
'They Choose One Person to Kill, and Then the Protest Is Over'

12 August 2021 *On 24 September ''Muhammad Ali Khabisa''(28) became the 7th victim to be shot dead, reportedly while sitting under an olive tree, during a further Friday protest over the Evyatar settlement. A sniper bullet smashed his skull.Jack Khoury, Hagar Shezaf,
' Palestinian Killed by Israeli Gunfire in the West Bank

24 September 2021

, Alex Levac
'If the Israeli Sniper Could See the Devastation He Caused, He Wouldn't Shoot Again ,'

1 October 2021.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome To Beita
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14:
IAAWikimedia commons

Beita Town Profile (including Za'tara Locality)

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ar, معهد الابحاث التطبيقية - القدس) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research project ...

(ARIJ)
Beita, aerial photo
ARIJ
Development Priorities and Needs in Beita
ARIJ

* ttps://www.instagram.com/p/CQUmzcVlTUu/ Instagram{{Nablus Governorate Towns in the West Bank Throne villages Municipalities of West Bank